1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hydrophobic ceragenin compounds and devices incorporating the hydrophobic ceragenin compounds. The ceragenin compounds have hydrophobic substituents that give the compounds a relatively high C Log P value that allow the compounds to be non-covalently bonded to polymeric materials.
2. The Relevant Technology
Ceragenin compounds, also referred to herein as cationic steroidal anti microbial compounds (CSA), are synthetically produced small molecule chemical compounds that include a sterol backbone having various charged groups (e.g., amine and cationic substituents) attached to the backbone. The backbone can be used to orient the amine or guanidine groups on one face, or plane, of the sterol backbone. For example, a scheme showing a compound having primary amino groups on one face, or plane, of a backbone is shown below in Scheme I:

Ceragenins are cationic and amphiphilic, based upon the functional groups attached to the backbone. They are facially amphiphilic with a hydrophobic face and a polycationic face. Without wishing to be bound to any particular theory, the anti-microbial ceragenin compounds described herein act as anti-microbial agents (e.g., anti-bacterials, anti-fungals, and anti-virals). It is believed, for example, that the anti-microbial ceragenin compounds described herein act as anti-bacterials by binding to the outer cellular membrane of bacteria and other microbes and inserting into the cell membrane forming a pore that allows the leakage of ions that are critical to the microbe's survival and leading to the death of the affected microbe. In addition, the anti-microbial ceragenin compound described herein may also act to sensitize bacteria to other antibiotics. For example, at concentrations of the anti-microbial ceragenin compounds below the corresponding minimum bacteriostatic concentration, the ceragenins cause bacteria to become more susceptible to other antibiotics by increasing the permeability of the outer membrane of the bacteria.
The charged groups are responsible for disrupting the bacterial cellular membrane, and without the charged groups, the ceragenin compound cannot disrupt the membrane to cause cell death or sensitization.